ABSTRACT
Demographic variables are background characteristics of the participants you will be studying. Many demographics are considered in research in the social and behavioral sciences. Examples include:
• Highest (or current) educational level • Socioeconomic status • Age • Major in school • Employment status • Gender
You should consider demographics at this point in planning your research because there probably will be some that you will want to hold constant in the study you are planning. For example, you might want to hold gender and educational level constant by studying only women enrolled in college. If so, you will probably want to add this information to your emerging research questions because it will be an important restriction on what you will be studying. For lOstance, this question might be posed:
• Among female college students, do those who have traveled abroad have more knowledge of world geography than those who have not traveled abroad?
